Hair care device

ABSTRACT

A hair iron, which is one embodiment of the hair care device of the present disclosure, includes a heater, a blower fan, and a regenerable drying agent. When air blown by the blower fan is heated by the heater and then passes through the drying agent heated by the heater, moisture absorbed by the drying agent is then released, and the released moisture is blown against hair of the user. After the desorption of moisture from the drying agent, and then after sufficient absorption of moisture from air, the drying agent can be heated again to release moisture.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No.2014-249765, filed on Dec. 10, 2014. The entire specification, claims,and drawings of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-249765 areincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

This application relates generally to a hair care device that can supplymoisture to hair without the providing of a liquid reservoir, and moreparticularly, to a hair iron.

BACKGROUND

A hair care device such as a hair dryer, hair iron or roll brush isequipped to wave, curl or straighten hair by using a heater to heat air,and by then blowing the heated air against the hair so as to dry thehair, or by using a heated clamping component in direct contact with thehair. However, the hair care device damages the hair due to the use ofheat. In particular, a hair iron clamps the hair using two clampingcomponents maintained at a high temperature of 120° C. to 190° C., andthe hair is heated very quickly by a high temperature heating portion.That is to say, due to direct contact of the high temperature clampingcomponents with the hair, repeated hair styling using the hair irongreatly damages the hair. Damaged hair is the major cause of loss ofgloss and resilience, hair frizzing, and difficulty in handling of curlyhair. Thus moisture retention or the supplying of moisture to the hairto prevent hair damage is important when using a hair iron.

The supplying of moisture to the hair is attempted in various types ofpreviously developed hair care devices. For example, in UnexaminedJapanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2009-136576, a hairdryer as a hair care device is disclosed that is suitable for increasingthe spraying pressure of a steam generator to partially concentrate andapply steam. This hair dryer is equipped with a steam generator. Thissteam generator is equipped with a liquid storage chamber capable ofreceiving heat from a heater and capable of storing liquid, a steamspray opening for spraying the steam volatilized in the liquid storagechamber, and an open-close valve for opening and closing the steam sprayopening. Due to this configuration, steam pressure within the steamgenerator can be increased by closing the open-close valve, and then theopen-close valve can be opened to vigorously spray high pressure steam.The hair dryer disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KokaiPublication No. 2009-136576 is thus suitable for concentratedapplication of steam to part of the hair.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2013-102826discloses a hair dryer as a hair care device capable of preventingelectrical charging of the hair and capable of supplying sufficientmoisture to the hair, by imparting positive and negative ions to thehair. This hair dryer is equipped with: a blower fan, a heater, an iongenerator capable of generating H⁺(H₂O)_(m) as positive ions (in which mis a positive integer) and O₂ ⁻(H₂O)_(n) as negative ions (in which n isa positive integer), an operational part for selection of operation inpermeation mode for promoting permeation into the hair of positive andnegative ions generated by the ion generator, and a control part forcontrolling a heater while operating the ion generator and the blowerfan such that temperature of air blown from a blowing opening becomes apredetermined promotion temperature for promotion of permeation into thehair of moisture accompanied by the positive and negative ions generatedby the ion generator.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2014-97214discloses a hair iron that is capable of supplying heated vaporaccording to properties of hair so as to advantageously set the hair.This hair iron has a first clamping part having a first hair clampingsurface and a second clamping part having a second hair clampingsurface, and is configured such that the hair is clamped between thefirst hair clamping surface and the second hair clamping surface. Atleast one of the first hair clamping surface and the second hairclamping surface is equipped with a heater for heating the clamped hair.At least one of the first hair clamping surface and the second hairclamping surface is equipped with a superheated vapor generator forgenerating vapor by heating a liquid and then further heating the vaporto generate superheated vapor, and is equipped with a discharge openingfor delivering the generated superheated vapor to the clamped hair. Dueto configuration in this manner, the hair iron disclosed in UnexaminedJapanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2014-97214 is capableof setting hair in a form desired by the user by the use of superheatedvapor regardless of the condition of the hair of the user.

In order to generate steam, the hair dryer of Unexamined Japanese PatentApplication Kokai Publication No. 2009-136576 is required to be equippedwith a steam generator that has the liquid storage chamber, the steamspray opening and the open-close valve. Also, when the user uses thehair dryer, the user is required to store water in the liquid storagechamber. That is to say, in addition to requiring the securing of spacefor arrangement of the steam generator, the hair dryer of UnexaminedJapanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2009-136576 requires acomplex mechanism for heating water in the chamber in order to sprayhigh pressure steam through the open-close valve from the steam sprayopening. Furthermore, the user is required to perform the troublesomeoperation of storing water in the liquid storage chamber when using thehair dryer.

The hair dryer of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KokaiPublication No. 2013-102826 has as required components: the iongenerator for generation of positive and negative ions, the operationalpart for selection of operation in permeation mode for promotingpermeation into the hair of positive and negative ions generated by theion generator and a control part for controlling a heater whileoperating the ion generator and the blower fan such that temperature ofair blown from the blowing opening becomes the predetermined promotiontemperature for promotion of permeation into the hair of moistureaccompanied by the positive and negative ions generated by the iongenerator. Thus in order to supply moisture to the hair, the hair dryerof Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No.2013-102826 requires the special structure that is the ion generator,operational part and control part.

The hair dryer of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KokaiPublication No. 2014-97214 must be equipped with the liquid reservoirfor storage of liquid and a superheated vapor generator for heating theliquid to generate steam and further heating the generated vapor togenerate superheated vapor. Thus the hair iron of Unexamined JapanesePatent Application Kokai Publication No. 2014-97214 requires thesecuring of space for arrangement of the liquid reservoir and the heatedvapor generator, and requires a complex mechanism for heating liquid inthe chamber for heating the liquid, generating steam and further heatingthe vapor to generate the superheated vapor. Furthermore, the user isrequired to perform the troublesome operation of storing water in theliquid storage chamber when using the hair dryer.

In this manner, a conventional hair care device is incapable ofsupplying moisture to hair unless a special structure is provided thatincludes components such as the liquid storage chamber, steam generator,ion generator, operational part, control part and superheated vaporgenerator. The securing of space for this structure is required in orderto provide this special structure, and miniaturization of the hair caredevice is difficult. Furthermore, the type of hair care device thatgenerates a vapor from water stored in a liquid storage chamber requirescomplex mechanisms such as a mechanism for preventing leakage of waterand a mechanism for generating a suitable vapor from water. In addition,this type of hair care device requires that the user perform thetroublesome operation of storing water in the liquid reservoir whenusing the hair care device. An objective of the present disclosure is toprovide a hair care device that does not require the arrangement of thespecial structure, that is capable of miniaturization, and that does notrequire of the user the troublesome operation of storing water in theliquid reservoir when using the hair care device.

SUMMARY

The hair care device of the present disclosure includes a hair caredevice comprising: a fan configured to blow air; a regenerable dryingagent; and a heater configured to heat the air blown by the fan and toheat the regenerable drying agent, wherein the air heated by the heaterpasses through the regenerable drying agent configured to pass the airheated by the heater. During use of this hair care device, a stream ofair blown by the fan is heated by the heater, and the stream of airpasses through the regenerable drying agent heated by the heater, andthus moisture is released from the drying agent.

In the hair care device of the present disclosure, furthermore, thedrying agent can include a zeolite.

In the hair care device of the present disclosure, the drying agent caninclude alumina and silica.

In the hair care device of the present disclosure, the drying agent caninclude silica gel.

In the hair care device of the present disclosure, the drying agent caninclude a clay-based drying agent.

In the hair care device of the present disclosure, the hair care devicecan be configured so as to be capable of setting a temperature of thedrying agent during use to greater than or equal to 150° C. By thismeans, moisture can be efficiently generated from the zeolite.

The hair care device of the present disclosure further includes a firstclamping component and a second clamping component, and the hair caredevice is capable of use as a hair iron.

The hair care device of the present disclosure is capable of use as ahair dryer.

The hair care device of the present disclosure internally retains aregenerable drying agent, and an air stream generated during use blowsmoisture generated from a heated drying agent against the hair of theuser to supply moisture to the hair. The regenerable drying agent takesup from the air in one day the necessary amount of moisture, and thusthe hair care device can be used daily without the user performing theoperation of refilling a liquid tank with water. Furthermore, since thehair care device of the present disclosure does not require thearrangement of specific structures of a conventional device, such as theliquid storage chamber, steam generator, ion generator, operationalpart, control part and superheated vapor generator, the hair care devicebecomes easily handled, and space for such a specific structure becomesunnecessary so that the hair care device can be miniaturized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of this application can be obtained whenthe following detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a left side view of the hair iron of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a backside view of the hair iron of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the hair iron of the present disclosure,in which the second clamping component is open;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the hair iron of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the hair iron of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing moisture release characteristics of the hairiron of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a graph showing moisture absorption characteristics of varioustypes of drying agents;

FIG. 8 is a graph showing moisture release characteristics of varioustypes of drying agents at 150° C.; and

FIG. 9 is a graph showing moisture release characteristics of varioustypes of drying agents at 200° C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A hair iron is explained below as an example of the hair care device ofthe present disclosure. As shown in a left side view of FIG. 1, abackside view of FIG. 2 and a top view of FIG. 4, a hair iron 8 isequipped with a handle 20 for the user to hold the hair iron, a firstclamping component 16 arranged at the upper portion of the handle 20,and a second clamping component 18 coupled through a hinge 26 to thefirst clamping component 16. A handle 30 and a stand 28 are arranged onthe second clamping component 18. A cool tip 15 is arranged at thedistal tip of the first clamping component 16, multiple blowing openings32 are arranged at the side portion of the first clamping component 16,and an electrical power cord 38 is arranged at the lower portion of thefirst clamping component 16. An air intake opening 34 for intake of airis arranged in the upper portion of the handle 20, and an electricalpower switch 40 is arranged at a side face of the handle 20. Distancefrom the tip of the cool tip 15 to the connection between the handle 20and the electrical power cord 38 is 33 cm; cool tip 15 height is 4 cmand maximum diameter is 4 cm; and length of the handle 20 is 16 cm.

The cross-sectional drawing of FIG. 5 shows internal structure of thehair iron 8. In the handle 20, a control board 42 is arranged connectedto the electrical power cord 38, and a blower fan 36 is arranged nearthe air intake opening 34. A plate-like heater 14 is arranged at theinterior of the first clamping component 16.

A drying agent is arranged in drying agent retainers 12 a, 12 b and 12 cat the periphery of the heater 14. For a cross section line A-A′ of thedrying agent retainer 12 a in FIG. 5, the cross section is indicated tothe right and adjacent to the cross section line A-A′. As can beunderstood from the figure, the drying agent is arranged in the entirelateral cross section in the drying agent retainer 12 a. Similarly, fora cross section line B-B′ of the drying agent retainer 12 b, the crosssection is indicated to the right and adjacent to the cross section lineB-B′. In this cross section, the drying agent is arranged at both sidesof the heater 14. Similarly, for a cross section line C-C′ of the dryingagent retainer 12 c, the cross section is indicated to the right andadjacent to the cross section line C-C′, although in this cross section,the drying agent is arranged at the periphery of an air flow tube 33.

A drying agent such as SIBLET (tradename, manufactured by Tokai ChemicalIndustries Inc.), silica gel, clay-based drying agents and zeolites canbe used as the regenerable drying agent of the hair care device of thepresent disclosure. SIBLET is a tablet type drying agent produced bytableting a porous, amorphous substance (natural silica-alumina clay,mineral name =allophane) that includes Al₂O₃·SiO₂·nH₂O as the majoringredient. SIBLET is chemically stable and has high moisture absorptioncapacity. Silica gel is manufactured by using sulfuric acid toneutralize sodium silicate. Silica gel is a drying agent that has asponge-like porous molecular structure and is regenerated by heating to150° C. to 180° C. The clay-based drying agent is a drying agentproduced using as a raw material the mineral bentonite or the claymineral montmorillonite. Zeolites are drying agents that, amongaluminosilicates, have relatively large voids in the crystal structure.

In a first example, “SIBLET AS 1306”, which is a tableted type allophanedrying agent produced by Tokai Chemical Industries Inc., was used byforming a powder from a portion of 20 tablets, and then placing thedrying agent in drying agent retainers 12 a, 12 b and 12 c. A singletablet of SIBLET AS1306 weighs 1 g, is 6 mm thick, and is 13 mm indiameter. Moisture release characteristics of a hair iron of the presentdisclosure using SIBLET AS1306 as the regenerable drying agent areexplained below using Table 1 and FIG. 6. Furthermore, as drying agentsother than SIBLET AS1206 as the regenerable drying agent, the inventorsalso used SIBLET ASW3012 (30 mm diameter, 12 mm thickness, 10 g weight)and plate-like molded synthetic zeolite drying agent MS SELAM-W10G(60×40 mm, 4 mm thickness, 10 g weight). A comparison of characteristicsof these drying agents is explained below using FIGS. 7 to 9.

Operation of the hair iron 8 of the present disclosure is explainednext. When the user turns the electrical power switch 40 on, via theelectrical power cord 38 and the control board 42, electrical current issent to the heater 14 and the blower fan 36. By operation of the blowerfan 36, air is taken in by the air intake opening 34 and is sent throughthe air flow tube 33 to the heater 14. Moisture is released from thedrying agent when the drying agent arranged in the drying agentretainers 12 a, 12 b and 12 c is heated to a temperature greater than orequal to 150° C. by heating by the heater 14. This released moisture isblown out from the multiple blowing openings 32 arranged at both sidesof the first clamping component 16 and is supplied as moisture to thehair of the user. As explained below concerning FIGS. 6, 8 and 9, duringa single use, the drying agent is capable of supplying moisture to thehair for at least 60 minutes. When the user finishes using the hair iron8, turns the electrical power switch 40 off, and then when temperatureof the drying agent decreases, the drying agent begins to absorbmoisture from the air. The drying agent, as explained below concerningFIG. 7, is capable of absorption of 20 percent by weight moisture, thatis, regeneration, during 24 h, and thus the user is able to use the hairiron 8 on the following day. That is to say, the user is not required toperform the troublesome operation of storing water in the liquidreservoir, as is required by the conventional hair care device, and thehair iron 8 can be used each day for at least 60 minutes.

When using the hair iron 8, the user presses the handle 30, opens thesecond clamping component 18 (FIG. 3), and curls the hair by clampingthe hair between the first clamping component 16 and the second clampingcomponent 18. During this curling operation, while the user uses theright hand to hold the handle 20 and the handle 30 and uses the lefthand to grab the cool tip 15, the user rotates the hair iron 8. The cooltip 15 is configured so that the contact area of the fingers is small sothat no interference occurs even when grasped by the fingers.

The first clamping component 16 and the second clamping component 18reach a temperature during use that is greater than or equal to 140° C.,and thus there is danger of burning or melting of a desk when the hairiron 8 is carelessly placed on the desk. The stand 28 is arranged on thehair iron 8 in order to avoid this danger. As indicated in FIG. 3,during use of the hair iron 8, the stand 28 is retracted toward thehandle 20 so as not to interfere with use of the hair iron 8. Moreover,when the hair iron 8 during use is placed on an object such as a desk,as indicated in FIG. 1, the stand 28 projects from the second clampingcomponent 18, and direct contact of the second clamping component 18with the desk is prevented.

Table 1 shows moisture release characteristics of the hair iron of thepresent disclosure using 20 tablets of “SIBLET AS 1306”, produced byTokai Chemical Co., Ltd., as the regenerable drying agent. FIG. 6 is agraph of the moisture release characteristics. This figures indicatesthe amount and change of discharged moisture due to setting the hairiron of the present disclosure to 150° C.

TABLE 1 Change of weight Elapsed time (minutes) Initial weight 5 10 2030 60 460 458.4 457.6 457.4 456.9 456.2 Released moisture amount Elapsedtime (minutes) 0 5 10 20 30 60 0 1.6 2.4 2.6 3.1 3.8

As can be understood from the data indicated in Table 1 and FIG. 6, alarge amount of moisture was released from the start of moisture releaseuntil 30 minutes had elapsed, and a relatively small amount of moisturewas released after 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes elapsed time. That isto say, the hair iron of the present disclosure was shown to be capableof a single continuous use for 60 minutes.

FIG. 7 shows results of a moisture absorption testing performed at 30°C. and 45% relative humidity using a single type of drying agentselected from among three types, that is from among zeolite (MSSELAM-W10G), SIBLET AS3012 and SIBLET AS1306. Although the absorbedmoisture for all of the drying agents was about 20 percent by weightwhen 48 h had elapsed, during the initial three hours, the zeolite andSIBLET AS1306 absorbed 10 percent by weight moisture, and in contrast,the SIBLET AS3012 had only absorbed 5 percent by weight moisture.However, after 24 h had elapsed, each of the drying agents had absorbedat least 18 percent by weight moisture.

FIG. 8 shows results of moisture release testing at 150° C. using asingle type of drying agent selected from among three types, that isfrom among zeolite (MS SELAM-W10G), SIBLET AS3012 and SIBLET AS1306.According to these results, when 60 minutes had elapsed, the SIBLET AS1306 had release nearly the entire amount of moisture, 20 percent byweight, and in contrast, the zeolite had only released 6 percent byweight moisture and retained 14 percent by weight moisture, and theSIBLET AS3012 had released 12.5 percent by weight moisture and retained7.5 percent by weight moisture. After 480 minutes (8 h) had elapsed,although nearly the entire amount of moisture of had been released fromthe SIBLET AS3012 and the SIBLET AS1306, the zeolite still retained 7percent by weight moisture.

FIG. 9, shows results of moisture release testing at 200° C. using asingle type of drying agent, either SIBLET AS3012 or SIBLET AS1306.According to these results, although the entire amount of moisture wasreleased from these drying agents after 180 minutes (3 h) had elapsed,after 60 minutes had elapsed, the SIBLET AS3012 retained 2 percent byweight moisture, and the SIBLET AS 1306 retained 1 percent by weightmoisture. According to these results, in comparison to SIBLET AS3012,SIBLET AS1306 is understood to release a greater amount of moisture at60 minutes, which is a practical time interval of use.

In the above explanation, although the hair iron was used as anembodiment to explain the hair care device of the present disclosure,the present disclosure is not limited to hair irons, and of course thepresent disclosure can be used appropriately for devices such as hairdryers and round brushes.

The foregoing describes some example embodiments for explanatorypurposes. Although the foregoing discussion has presented specificembodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes maybe made in form and detail without departing from the broader spirit andscope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings areto be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. Thisdetailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense,and the scope of the invention is defined only by the included claims,along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims areentitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hair care device comprising: a fan configuredto blow air; a regenerable drying agent; and a heater configured to heatthe air blown by the fan and to heat the regenerable drying agent,wherein the air heated by the heater passes through the regenerabledrying agent configured to pass the air heated by the heater.
 2. Thehair care device according to claim 1, wherein the drying agentcomprises a zeolite.
 3. The hair care device according to claim 1,wherein the drying agent comprises alumina and silica.
 4. The hair caredevice according to claim 1, wherein the drying agent comprises silicagel.
 5. The hair care device according to claim 1, wherein the dryingagent comprises a clay-based drying agent.
 6. The hair care deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the hair care device is configured so asto be capable of setting a temperature of the drying agent during use togreater than or equal to 150° C.
 7. The hair care device according toclaim 1, further comprising: a first clamping component; and a secondclamping component, wherein the hair care device is a hair iron.
 8. Thehair care device according to claim 1, wherein the hair care device is ahair iron.